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8 June 2019

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Stand by the Sea

One million plastic bottles are produced every minute: 91% of them are not recycled. The world demand equates to 20,000 plastic bottles being bought every second. The amount of plastic produced in a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of all the people on earth.

Then, there is the sea.

Imagine one truck every minute, unloading plastic waste in the sea. A long line of 1,440 trucks a day. By 2030, they will be 3,000. Plastics contaminating the sea ultimately reach our bodies. By eating seafood, each of us ingests up to 11,000 microplastics every year.

Plastic waste dumped in the oceans is today among the many serious challenges affecting the Planet, and not the least. Unregulated plastic waste poses a seriously underestimated risk to our peace and security as well – especially notable on the occasion of the United Nations World Oceans Day.

Compared to grave events such as terroristic threats, conflicts, hunger and disease, one might think that addressing the silent invasion of plastic at sea should not now be a priority. However, as highlighted since the Report of theWorld Commission on Sustainable Development: Our Common Future, peace and security bear directly upon a model of development that is sustainable. Plastic is not. Relentless plastics consumption is creating an environmental crisis that experts predict will be as serious as climate change. Adding one to the other, the results of these two natural assaults are already having irreversible consequences for the Planet – and for the life of each and every one on it. Not only it is true that an unsustainable model of development leads to environmental degradation; it is also true that a ravaged environment prevents development, leads to poverty and, inevitably, triggers conflicts.

This film was born as an idea from a group of Italian navigators who love the sea.

Undoubtedly, they are not the only people who do.

Let’s all make this concern a true priority. Let’s be part of a humanity worthy of its definition.

Let's "Stand by the Sea".

Credits:

"Stand by the Sea", from an idea of Federico Zecchin for SilverCare.

Presented by Ilaria Tani on World Oceans Day.

Directed by Francesco Malingri.

Produced by SilverCare with the participation of Italian sailors who love the sea.